The Track and Field season saw County Championships crowned earlier this month and the next week will see the state plunge into Region Championships starting this weekend. Many meets will begin on Friday and conclude on Monday and the majority of the state will begin theirs early next week. Following the Region Championships, the state will have its Sectionals on May 4 and then the final stage of the season will be the following weekend at the State Championships (May 9-11) at Rome (Class A Division I and 6A), Commerce (Class A Division II and 2A), Albany (Class 3A-4A) and Carrollton (Class 5A, 7A and Adapted).
Class A Division I Region 6, Region 1-5A, Region 3-7A and Region 5-7A were among the first regions to begin their tournaments and got started on Wednesday. The action will conclude on Friday and the top performers will earn a spot at their respective sectionals. After the first day of action, the Marietta girls lead North Paulding (51), Harrison (51), Hillgrove (39) and host McEachern (31) with 76 points. Sophomore and Reigning state champion Mary Nesmith took first in the Girls 1600 meter with a 4:56.25 and also helped lead the Blue Devils to a first-place finish in the 4x800 meter with teammates Brooklyn McVicker, Nora Hart and Maddie Jones (10:25.49). Neismith will return to action on Thursday with the 3200 meter run.
On the boys side, Marietta (69) leads Harrison (54), North Paulding (39), McEachern (35) and Hillgrove (24) after the first day of action. Senior Will Frederick earned 10 points with a first-place 14-0 Pole Vault and teammate Isaiah Tripp added another five points for Marietta with a fourth-place 10-6 in the Pole Vault.
On Thursday ,Region 7-A Division II Region 6-2A, Region 8-6A will hold their meets. Then on Saturday, Region 6-4A, Region 4-5A, Region 8-5A and Region 3-6A will start. With the latter two regions mentioning both starting and completing their meet on Saturday and Region 6 and Region 4 closing out theirs on Monday, April 22.
This past week, Dacula’s Danah Nembhard earned the trifecta with top finishes in the triple jump (39-2.5), long jump (18-9) and high jump (5-6), the Druid Hills girls set another new state record in the 4x200 relay with a 1:35.50, North Cobb’s Jasmine Robinson swept the 100 and 300 hurdles with a 23.78/41.83 and teammate Keira Beaumont earned top finishes in the 100 and 200 meters with a 11.66/24.43.
On the boys side, Westlake’s Side Nije shaved 0.03 seconds off his own state record in the 400 with a 45.59. Hist teammate Keayari Thompson hit a personal best 1:51.91 in the 800 meter and Etowah’s Luke Stradley hit a 24-10 in the long jump—ranking sixth all-time. Additionally, Westminster’s 4x800 relay team finished sixth all-time with a 7:47.88 and Joseph Williams of Alpharetta swept the hurdles with a 38.31 in the 300 and 14.28 in the 110.
